The Tierra de la Danza de Oso Institute, a nonprofit near Westcliffe, Colorado, draws its name—”Land of the Bear Dance”—from the ancient Ute Bear Dance, one of North America’s oldest ceremonies with origins traced back centuries (and first recorded by Spanish explorers in the 15th century) among the indigenous Ute people of the region.
This springtime ritual, beginning after the first thunder as bears emerge from hibernation, celebrates renewal, healing, social unity, and respect for nature’s cycles, serving as a communal gathering to strengthen community bonds and honor the bear’s spiritual significance.
The Spanish-language title honors the early Spanish explorers and homesteaders who traversed southern Colorado in the 1500s–1700s who passed near and lived near the Wet Mountains and Arkansas River long before permanent Anglo-American settlement in the Wet Mountain Valley in the 1870s.
This linguistic nod is further enriched by the heritage of active board member Mayra Santana, whose Puerto Rican (Spanish) roots bring a contemporary layer of Latin cultural connection to the institute’s vision. The organization focuses on sustainability and self-sufficiency, offering programs in land and animal management, artistic expression, and practical workshops, while prioritizing services to underserved communities in the Wet Mountain Valley.
TDO Institute started building its herd in lowa. Better for puppy livestock guarding dogs to learn their family, while dealing with coyotes and
racoons, instead of mountain lions and black bears. We’ve got two adult Spanish goats expecting kids, two babies already munching around, plus two Valais black-nosed sheep—one with twins on board, the other’s back with a ram for more spring arrivals.
Reika, our little black Anatolian shepherd pup, and Askir, the full-grown tan guardian, watch over them all, while Salmon Favorelle chickens land soon, followed by Cayuga ducks, likely Pomeranian geese, and later rabbits, and Mangalica pig. Over these first two years we’re shaping the land with swales and stop dams to pull water in, revive soil, line them with Colorado natives like fruit and nut trees plus three-leaf sumac—sacred to the Ute tribes and perfect goat-sheep feed—to shade off evaporation, then tuck berries underneath for understory forage; everything so the herd can roam free and forage smart.
We’ll raise a permaculture playground too: enclosure for processing and storing meat and veggies, an earth-sheltered passive greenhouse with rammed earth walls for thermal mass, operating passively, plus brewing bio-tea, soldier fly feasts, and worm castings to cycle life back.
The classes offered during this development will be sustainable design like passive greenhouse construction & design, rammed earth wall builds, permaculture and swale management. Eventually we will offer classes for sustainable self sufficiency.
Founder/President
MA in Architecture holder dedicated to sustainable design that minimizes impact while maximizing harmony. Passionate advocate for permaculture practices, animal well-being.
Vice President
Gardening has been in my blood since childhood. In 1966 I moved to the Bay Area, where I embraced organic gardening, raised chickens, and sold eggs and chicks to local gardeners.
Secretary
Embracing mountain life in Colorado, this lifelong city dweller has unexpectedly fallen deeply in love with animals—finding real joy in caring for creatures I never grew up around.
Treasurer
Raised on a diverse family farm with free-range livestock, home-grown crops, vegetables, and raw dairy—where daily chores built discipline. Now after a University of lowa finance degree and a career, lam back to the farm stuff.
